A few minutes later, Danzo left the Hokage Office, looking displeased.
It seemed his proposal hadn't been approved.
"Black One, go find Uchiha Fugaku."
"I'll wait here for him."
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, then spoke slowly.
An Anbu member disappeared from the room as well.
Before long, Uchiha Fugaku arrived.
"Lord Hokage."
Uchiha Fugaku gave a slight nod.
"Fugaku, I'll skip the pleasantries."
"I hope you can intervene in Asuma's situation."
"He couldn't possibly be a spy from another village."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke slowly.
"I understand."
"Asuma is your son. He couldn't possibly be a spy planted and bribed by an outside village."
"I'll pass the word along."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't argue and agreed at once.
"Lord Hokage, Uchiha Natsume, captain of the Military Police Force, is here."
"He says he has something important to discuss directly with Lord Hokage."
Just then, someone from the Communication Department knocked on the Hokage Office door.
"Let him in."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had a bad feeling.
Normally, whenever the Military Police Force had a problem, they reported it directly to Uchiha Fugaku.
Then Uchiha Fugaku would report it to him.
Why would they skip a level and report directly to him at such a critical moment?
"Lord Hokage, Captain."
"Please forgive Natsume for acting rashly. I should have reported this to the captain first."
Uchiha Natsume said, looking flustered.
"Go ahead, Natsume."
"It so happens that I'm here too."
Fugaku narrowed his eyes, curious as he watched Uchiha Natsume.
He knew a little about this matter, but not much.
Most importantly, he hadn't yet given any orders about how to handle it.
Natsume's sudden arrival had to mean he'd uncovered something unusual.
"Sarutobi Asuma has betrayed the village."
"To be precise, someone manipulated him."
As he spoke, Uchiha Natsume took out a report.
At those words, the pipe in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand nearly slipped from his fingers.
Fugaku took the report from him.
"Lord Hokage, this isn't right..."
As he spoke, Fugaku handed the report to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After reading it, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression grew even darker.
"Lord Hokage, I think we should deal with this internally."
"Making it public would damage both the village and your authority, Lord Hokage."
"And it would bring even more trouble down the line."
Before Sarutobi Hiruzen could speak, Uchiha Fugaku spoke up.
This was no joke. Even the Hokage's son had been manipulated.
The other villages would surely become even bolder in their efforts to infiltrate Konoha.
Fugaku wasn't doing this to help Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was thinking of the safety of the entire village.
If the village ran into trouble, the Uchiha would end up on the battlefield again.
That would cost the Uchiha dearly.
"I understand."
"I'll handle this myself. Hand him over to me."
"The Konoha Military Police Force has done excellent work this time. Double its monthly operating budget."
"Double the compensation for every member of the Military Police Force as well."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke softly.
"Understood, Lord Hokage."
"Natsume, go bring him here."
"Lord Hokage, I'll take my leave."
Uchiha Fugaku left with Uchiha Natsume.
While out on a mission, Asuma had encountered shinobi from another village.
Hidden Swamp Village was made up of wandering shinobi from various regions and missing-nin from other villages.
It wasn't large, and it was constantly on the move.
After learning who Asuma was, they'd gone out of their way to flatter him.
Young and headstrong, Asuma couldn't withstand such flattery.
Before long, he was completely full of himself.
After that, he kept in contact with them.
He even sought them out whenever he went on a mission.
He'd also freely shared information about Konoha, treating it as casual conversation.
The attacks on several of Konoha's assets—the mines, Vermilion Flame Trees, and farmland—some time ago had been carried out by shinobi from Hidden Swamp Village.
And they'd gotten the information from Asuma.
That's right. He'd been sold out and was still happily giving them information.
Before long, Asuma appeared at the Hokage Office.
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's face so dark it looked ready to drip, he couldn't help panicking.
He might act arrogant and domineering outside, but he was still terrified of his father.
"Do you understand how serious this is?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked evenly.
"I..."
"House arrest. You're not to leave the house until the Spring Festival ceremony."
"Go back."
Before Asuma could finish, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already made his decision.
Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had closed his eyes, Asuma ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.
If anyone else had done this, they'd already be in Konoha's prison.
And they might well have been executed outright.
If Uchiha Fugaku hadn't considered the effect on the village, Asuma would already be done for.
Uchiha Compound.
"Roy, was this your plan?"
Looking at Roy and the other three, Uchiha Fugaku asked in surprise.
"It wasn't my plan."
"Asuma came looking for trouble, so I looked into him while I was at it."
"I didn't expect to uncover something like this."
Roy answered calmly.
To be honest, Roy had been surprised when he found out about it too.
He hadn't expected Asuma to have been such a reckless playboy when he was young.
He'd even casually given away his own father's assets.
"Roy, you did very well."
"Do you understand why the clan didn't respond to what happened last time?"
Uchiha Fugaku looked at Roy with concern.
After all, what had happened to Roy was serious.
"I understand."
"The clan isn't in a position to help me get justice."
"Besides, I don't intend to trouble the clan over this."
Roy spoke with confidence.
"Good. I understand."
"Here's 100,000 ryo as a reward."
"You may all go."
Uchiha Fugaku looked pleased. After giving them their reward, he dismissed the four of them.
"Natsume, your team member has real potential."
"Make good use of him, but also make sure he stays safe."
"Don't let him take part in tonight's mission."
After the four left, Uchiha Fugaku turned to Uchiha Natsume.
"Understood, clan leader."
"I'll go take care of a few things. We need to give the village an explanation for this."
"As for Asuma's two lackeys, they can consider themselves unlucky."
After Uchiha Natsume spoke, a ruthless look appeared on his face.
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